Deepwater Aquatics announces BLDC3 pump

The BLDC3 is Deepwater Aquatic's newest DC brushless, variable-speed water pump. What separates it from most other pumps on the market today is its spherical rotor (vs conventional shaft rotors). The BLDC3 is rated for 3000lph (792gph) with a max head of 3 meters (9.8 feet).

Most aquarists already know the advantages of a brushless DC pump: variable-speed, higher efficiency, reduced noise, and (theoretically) increased reliability and longevity. Deepwater Aquatics' upcoming BLDC3 pump will tack on another "next gen" design feature: a spherical rotor, which does away with the conventional shaft/impeller/bearing assembly.

A spherical rotor is a spherically shaped magnetic rotor that "floats" inside a wear-resistant ceramic seat. The conventional shaft bearings and seals are eliminated.

With a simplified assembly, spherical rotors are less susceptible to debris or mineral build-up interfering with the pump's operation. Alignment is also no longer a factor in this design. This should result in a pump with more reliable operation (especially at start-up), lower upkeep requirements, and even less noise. While Deepwater Aquatics does not make this claim, other spherical rotor pump manufacturers (ie medical pumps) state that spherical rotors require no maintenance and are immune to seizing up due to the nature of the assembly, although we'll have to wait and see if this holds true for calcium-rich, corrosive seawater.

Another benefit of spherical rotors is it allows for a much more compact pump since the stator is wrapped entirely around the rotor. As you can see from the supplied drawings, the BLDC3 is very compact indeed.

Deepwater Aquatics supplied Advanced Aquarist with the following bullet-points about the BLDC3: